BILL NUMBER: AB 1558	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Eng and Roger Hernández
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Smyth)

                        JANUARY 26, 2012

   An act to amend Section 831.8 of the Government Code, relating to
liability.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1558, as introduced, Eng. Liability: flood control and water
conservation facilities.
   Existing law, until January 1, 2013, provides that neither a
public agency that operates flood control and water conservation
facilities nor its employees shall be liable for injuries caused by
the condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds under prescribed conditions,
except as specified, and specifies that nothing in that provision
exonerates a public agency or public employee subject to that
provision from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous
condition of public property under specified circumstances.
   This bill would extend the operation of those provisions
indefinitely.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 831.8 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   831.8.  (a) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither a public
entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an
injury caused by the condition of a reservoir if at the time of the
injury the person injured was using the property for any purpose
other than that for which the public entity intended or permitted the
property to be used.
   (b) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither an irrigation
district nor an employee thereof nor the state nor a state employee
is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the condition of
canals, conduits, or drains used for the distribution of water if at
the time of the injury the person injured was using the property for
any purpose other than that for which the district or state intended
it to be used.
   (c) Subject to subdivisions (d) and (e), neither a public agency
operating flood control and water conservation facilities nor its
employees are liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the
condition or use of unlined flood control channels or adjacent
groundwater recharge spreading grounds if, at the time of the injury,
the person injured was using the property for any purpose other than
that for which the public entity intended it to be used, and, if all
of the following conditions are met:
   (1) The public agency operates and maintains dams, pipes,
channels, and appurtenant facilities to provide flood control
protection and water conservation for a county whose population
exceeds nine million residents.
   (2) The public agency operates facilities to recharge a
groundwater basin system which is the primary water supply for more
than one million residents.
   (3) The groundwater supply is dependent on imported water recharge
which must be conducted in accordance with court-imposed basin
management restrictions.
   (4) The basin recharge activities allow the conservation and
storage of both local and imported water supplies when these waters
are available.
   (5) The public agency posts conspicuous signs warning of any
increase in waterflow levels of an unlined flood control channel or
any spreading ground receiving water.
   (d) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public
employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous
condition of property if all of the following occur:
   (1) The injured person was not guilty of a criminal offense under
Article 1 (commencing with Section 552) of Chapter 12 of Title 13 of
Part 1 of the Penal Code in entering on or using the property.
   (2) The condition created a substantial and unreasonable risk of
death or serious bodily harm when the property or adjacent property
was used with due care in a manner in which it was reasonably
foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The dangerous character of the condition was not reasonably
apparent to, and would not have been anticipated by, a mature,
reasonable person using the property with due care.
   (4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition.
   (e) Nothing in this section exonerates a public entity or a public
employee from liability for injury proximately caused by a dangerous
condition of property if all of the following occur:
   (1) The person injured was less than 12 years of age.
   (2) The dangerous condition created a substantial and unreasonable
risk of death or serious bodily harm to children under 12 years of
age using the property or adjacent property with due care in a manner
in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The person injured, because of his or her immaturity, did not
discover the condition or did not appreciate its dangerous character.

   (4) The public entity or the public employee had actual knowledge
of the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition.
   (f) Nothing in subdivision (c) exonerates a public agency or
public employee subject to that subdivision from liability for injury
proximately caused by a dangerous condition of public property if
all of the following occur:
   (1) The person injured was 16 years of age or younger.
   (2) The dangerous condition created a substantial and unreasonable
risk of death or serious bodily harm to children 16 years of age or
younger using the property or adjacent property with due care in a
manner in which it was reasonably foreseeable that it would be used.
   (3) The person injured did not discover the condition or did not
appreciate its dangerous character because of his or her immaturity.
   (4) The public entity or public employee had actual knowledge of
the condition and knew or should have known of its dangerous
character a sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken
measures to protect against the condition. 
   (g) Subdivisions (c) and (f) shall become inoperative on and after
January 1, 2013.